When I got back to the office, I put in my request to take the next week off. I called the team's head coach and took time off from the team, too. Daisy needs me, and I’m not going to half-ass things. She’ll have my undivided attention.
Yes, I know the doctor said four or five days. I’m rounding up.
Next stop was her place. I have a key, so I let myself in and gathered everything on her list. I also grabbed her slippers, her favorite blanket, and her pillow with the silk pillowcase. I’ve heard the girls talk about how good it is for their hair and skin. How they can’t live without it. I call bullshit, but if it makes her happy, I’ll buy her as many silk pillowcases as she wants.
After picking up her things, I hurried to my place and prepped my bedroom for her. I talked to Maui the entire time. Excited to let her know Mommy would be staying with us. Her ass shook as her tail wagged. She’s just as excited as I am.
Since my return to the hospital, Daisy has been quiet. Almost distant. The only words she muttered as I helped her into my truck were thank you. She’s been silent the entire ride home.
The quiet is unnerving. I’d give anything for one of her smartass comments to fall from her sexy as sin lips. Neither of us are quiet people. Especially around each other. Even when we’re between the sheets, neither of us can shut up.
Is she in pain?
Does she not want to stay with me?
Has she remembered how she ended up lying on the rocks at the bottom of a cliffside?
Not knowing what else to do, I give her space and remain mute. This only allows me time to think about the asshole who pushed her and what I’m going to do to him when I find him.
Daisy needs to know the truth of what happened, but not tonight. It’s late, and she needs sleep. If she knows this prick tried to kill her, left her for dead, and is on the loose, she won’tget the rest she needs. I’ll tell her once she’s feeling up to hearing the news.
Until that time comes, I’ll hope the detectives find additional information and there is more to tell her about her assailant.
Pulling up to the house, I finally break the silence. “Home sweet home.”
“Owen, are you sure? You don’t have to do this.” There isn’t any conviction in her words. She’s saying them because she feels they’re the right thing to say, but she knows this is where she belongs.
“Stay where you are.” I shut the driver's side door before she questions me further. She hasn’t figured out how to walk gracefully in her boot yet, and she’s still a little dizzy. I'll be carrying her inside, and I won’t hear a word about it.
When I round the front of the truck, her door is open and she’s trying to get out.
“Woman, I told you to stay where you are. Do you ever listen?”
The smile she tries to hide tells me she’s thinking about how well she listens and does what she’s told when she’s naked, in my bed with the promise of my mouth between her legs or my dick inside her tight pussy on the table. She’ll do anything I say in those moments.
“Get your mind out of the gutter, Clover. The doc said no physical activity while you recover.”
“Whatever,” she says with a roll of her eyes that she quickly regrets, judging by her resulting wince.
Slipping my hands underneath her, I lift her from her seat and use my ass to close the truck door.
“You don’t have to carry me.”
“Quiet.”
“This is ridiculous.”
“The doctor released you to my care. You’ll just have to deal with the fact that what I say goes.”
“Keep telling yourself that.”
Once through the door, I carry her up the stairs to my bedroom.
When we pass both spare bedrooms and enter my room, she begins her bullshit protests again.
“Owen, no. You don’t have to give me your bedroom. This is too much. I’ll be fine in a spare—” She stops resisting, her eyes widening. “Wait. Is that my pillow from home? And my favorite blanket and my slippers?”
Taking advantage of her bewildered state, I set her on the bed. “I guess you didn’t need both slippers, but they’re like salt and pepper. They need to stick together.” I tap her boot as I slip off the shoe on her unbooted foot. “Come on, let’s get you situated.”
